Satori in Paris and Pic: Two Novels (Kerouac, Jack) [Paperback]

Jack Kerouac (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1994 | Series: Kerouac, Jack

Satori in Paris and Pic, two of Jack Kerouac's last novels, showcase the remarkable range and versatility of his mature talent. Satori in Paris is a rollicking autobiographical account of Kerouac's search for his heritage in France, and lands the author in his familiar milieu of seedy bars and all-night conversations. Pic is Kerouac's final novel and one of his most unusual. Narrated by ten-year-old Pictorial Review Jackson in a North Carolina vernacular, the novel charts the adventures of Pic and his brother Slim as they travel from the rural South to Harlem in the 1940s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; Revised edition (January 12, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802130615
• ISBN-13: 978-0802130617
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Beat Generation

More About the Author

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), the central figure of the Beat Generation, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922 and died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1969. Among his many novels are On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and Visions of Cody.

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#63 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

#63 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars go moan for man! February 6, 2008

By Upsaka Jc

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

satori is kerouac being kerouac, the end of the Duluoz Legend, almost like he's just writing you letters. i wish there was a bit more to it, something to end it all, but alas it ends not with a bang but a whimper.

pic, his last novel, is great, this is kerouac being mark twain and really shows his talent as a writer, that he can write about something other than himself. and ties into his Duluoz Legend in a cool sort of way too.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars sorry to say it... April 6, 2005

By generation of vipers

Format:Paperback

I've read a lot of Kerouac's stuff and liked most of it. this, however, is truly pathetic, uninteresting and unnecessary. I guess if you for some reason need a portrait of the artist in decline... this is it.

If you've never read him please dont start here. This is only for those who already love and know what jack was capable of- we're better prepared to forgive disappointments like these. If you're new to kerouac do yourself a favor and start with things like the dharma bums, on the road and subterraneans- there's a reason these are as popular as they are.

It's nice and short, though.

I also want to mention that this is my first review- I'm not in the habit of trashing great writers lesser works. I dont need my opinions heard or validated. I just want to steer fledgling beat readers away from what could be an instant kerouac dealbreaker.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Three stars for Satori in Paris, Five stars for Pic August 1, 2012

By Mr. Matthew Mclaughlin

Format:Paperback

I'm surprised by how many reviewers have focused on Satori in Paris and neglected much a discussion of Pic, which, to my mind, is EASILY the pick of the two in this great value pack (pun unintentional).
It's the last novel that Jack would ever complete. Stylistically similar to Twain and starting off with a touch of the Faulknerian southern gothic novel to boot, the story ends up becoming an energy-charged tale of two brothers escaping hard times down South as they hit the road and travel to New York and the excitement of jazz and its endless number of bars.
Satori in Paris, even though it has its great moments, is not an easy read. I don't mean in a high-brow sense or that Jack loses his reader through his spontaneous prose literary excursions and scatological pile-ups of words but it's hard to read because it was at the end of his life, where Jack seems effectively at the end of his emotional and literary tether, and he is in (gradual) self-destruct mode in which he continued to drink himself to death (as he is a Catholic and does not believe in suicide per se). Satori in Paris is not nearly as bad as it has been portrayed and does not deserve the scorn and derision of those in the anti-Kerouac crowd (who never 'got' him anyway, let's face it) and it does have its amusing parts like when Jack gets into a yelling competition with a train conductor over the correct French pronunciation of a word. (Jack was always proud of his French-Canadian heritage). Incidentally, I found it both funny and sad how Kerouac realizes in this instant that he is a 'lunatic'.
He certainly knew how to put himself down...unfortunately. He once wrote 'put myself down and what have I got left?' - something heartbreakingly honest and melancholic (see Ann Charters' lectures at Naropa for more details).
All in all, this is worth reading but especially because of that not-so-well-known gem after Satori in Paris - Pic.
It is truly a joy to read and extremely vivid in its descriptions that I could have sworn that I had just watched a very interesting fast-paced movie rather than an actual book. In short (bref): sheer genius at the end of a great but tragic career.
What is so fascinating about Pic as well is how different it is, stylistically speaking , from ANYTHING else Kerouac wrote. This also adds support to Ann Charters' claim that he 'could write anything he absolutely wanted to'. There are the certain definite Kerouackian hallmarks within (fast-paced jumping narrative, heavy emphasis on booze, travelling and saxophones etc.) but there's something magical about it too that I can't quite put my finger on - like Kerouac had tapped into a secret vein, a conduit if you will, back to the old South, a part of Old America, that does not exist any more.
I think an interesting paper could be written comparing the first half of the novel with works by Twain and perhaps Faulkner while the second half sounds similar to The Horn by John Clellon Holmes (although I haven't read that book yet).
Highly recommended, especially Pic which may just be Kerouac's short but final masterpiece that he left behind for the world.